Need a Reason to Jailbreak? Backgrounder App is Now Available!

A new application, Backgrounder, is now available for jailbroken phones! This allows you to run official App Store apps in the background. Yes, you can now listen to music while you are in your favorite App Store app!

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blockquote>With Backgrounder, you don't have to log into a secure shell session. You don't have to perform black magic. You just press and hold the home key while running any application. After a few seconds, the Backgrounding Enabled pop-up appears. Release the home button and go about your business. Backgrounder automatically returns you to SpringBoard. To quit the background application, re-launch it from SpringBoard, then press and hold Home until the Backgrounding Disabled pop-up appears.

Why Apple has not allowed apps to run in the background is beyond me. At first I thought that maybe the iPhone couldn't handle a few apps running at the same time so Apple rightfully did not allow it... well after trying this new app, which is only available to jailbreakers via Cydia, it is more than obvious that the iPhone indeed can handle apps running in the background.

So Apple when will you learn if you don't give us what we want, we eventually just take it...

So are you finally going to jailbreak your phone now? We've got step by step instructions up to Jailbreak the iPhone 3G for both Mac OS X and Windows PC users, and for the original iPhone 2G. Jailbreakers UNITE!!! Argh!!!!

Reader comments

Need a Reason to Jailbreak? Backgrounder App is Now Available!

Once again I have to say to all those who havent jailbroken their phones "DO IT NOW" haha. This is one of many features apple chose not to include and damn them. It runs super smooth. I have yet to notice any lag or slowing down when running backgrounder. So I must thank the community for this one and say "keep writing wicked code" because apple has forgot how.

I'd rather see backgrounding/multi-tasking from Apple then the silly push-notification.
Push devastates battery life on the iPhone, so it's something you'd have to muck around turning off and on etc... Push-notifications seems purely based on internet applications also - what about a "possible" Tomtom app; what on earth use is push-notification on that for example?
Have multi-tasking off by default ; warn it may decrease battery life or affect performance if turned on (ala "3G")

This application has indeed pushed me over the line last week to jailbreak my iPhone. It works perfectly with BeejiveIM for example. And now I wonder why I haven't jailbroken my phone before, it has so many advantages!

john: backgrounder lets any app run in the background. you could listen to pandora, you could leave your IM program running, etc. If an app stays constantly running in the background and prevents the device from sleeping (for example if you left something like Air Sharing running), then it would kill your battery life.
People say multitasking works great on a blackberry. I've never used that. Anyone who says it works great on Windows Mobile is a liar; I have used WM devices and there's a reason "close button that really closes" apps have been popular since the PPC2000 days, and why some devices even come with that option built-in as a value-added third party app.

@john, I believe Jeremy was talking about running aol radio or pandors or last.fm in the background and not the iPod.
I think I might just have to jailbreak my phone and this would make me pick up beejive.

Apple reserves the right for their own apps to run on the background - and denys apps created by others the same ability.
If MS tried that, there would be taunts from the Mac community and threats of legal action from various legal groups.
For many in the Mac world, it's just papa Stalin - , uh Steve, protecting them.

@ thekevinmonster
multitasking was wonders on the BB. When I had my first pearl I loved it and nothing has changed with my bold. BB did the multitasking properly. I had been wishing for some time apple would change there stance on background process. Now I just throw my middle finger up in the air and wave like Ive never waved before. This app is perfect for the iPhone and like the other comments made it works wonders with beejive. I am happier than a pig in shit. Now can we just get the god damn cut and paste.

The concept sure sounds nice but what if u shun 4-5 apps in the background n then forget which ones are still active in the background?? Wouldn't that kill batterylife substantially?? Or is there some workaround i havent figured out yet....anyways hats off to the devs who went this far atleast :)